Raritan PHII long term review

[Terry Cox]

No wet blanket intended on this saga, but our two 1991 Jabsco electric macerator sea water toilets still doing their job even though the joker valves remain frozen open due to age. Yes, I know that joker valves are not that important to an electric toilet operation. Maybe some day they will refuse to move stuff to the holding tank, for some reason or another, but until then...

Back then Jabsco used a proprietary (smaller than normal) joker valve that they no longer carry and have not for years. They do have a rebuild kit that pretty much replaces everything except the bowl, but just not worth it at this time as long as the system continues to work. No moving parts except the motor and no points of lubrication.

 

[Hayden Watson]

No wet blanket intended on this saga, but our two 1991 Jabsco electric macerator sea water toilets still doing their job even though the joker valves remain frozen open due to age. Yes, I know that joker valves are not that important to an electric toilet operation. Maybe some day they will refuse to move stuff to the holding tank, for some reason or another, but until then...

Back then Jabsco used a proprietary (smaller than normal) joker valve that they no longer carry and have not for years. They do have a rebuild kit that pretty much replaces everything except the bowl, but just not worth it at this time as long as the system continues to work. No moving parts except the motor and no points of lubrication.

For a maserating head, you can put a flapper type of check valve in the discharge line that will do the same thing. They are rated for sludge.

 

[Richard19068]

And .......................... if you don't like digging in the bottom of the pump because you DO know what's been in there, you can build a little grease gun like this :

View attachment 219484

View attachment 219485

................................. remove the piston rod gland and go in through the top of the cylinder. Press the1/8" poly tube up against the cylinder walls and supply a tbsp. or two of grease to the walls.

@Ralph Johnstone

Ralph,
Can you get the the piston rod gland up without removing the discharge valve cap (#1217)? On mine that cap is in the way of lifting out the gland nut. It looks on the picture that your cap is still on.

https://www.raritaneng.com/media/pdf_files/ph_II/L04Ephiiv0303.pdf

Thanks.

 

[Ralph Johnstone]

Hmmmmmmmmmmm. I don't remember having any problem lifting the gland nut straight up and out, but I DO remember having one hell of a job unscrewing the the gland nut #1214. For that part, I bastardized an old 7/8" combination wrench and ground the circumference of the box end of the wrench so that it was slim enough to fit in between the #1217 housing and the gland nut. In addition, I also ground down the flat, outer, lower face of the box end so that it gripped the head of the gland #1214 firmly rather than slipping on the beveled edge which leads into the box end. You'll see this problem edge when you look at the 7/8" box end.

I also found some instructions which I had made up for one of the crew for when she was working on the maintenance. You'll have to use my drawing from the attached manual with entirely different numbers to follow the instructions.

I only went into the bottom of the pump ONCE to lube the piston ring and never, ever in my wildest nightmares would I try that again. Besides being a #$%^@$!# mess with the remaining water coming out, I must have managed to get a small piece of something stuck in the flapper valve gasket when I reassembled the pump and had a microscopic leak from the joint which would not stop for any amount of tightening the flange. I wound up going back in there again to ensure the surfaces were clean and added a film of teflon paste sealant and had no further leakage problem. Never Again.

That is the one problem that would have made me think twice about purchasing the Raritan head. The process of lubricating the piston ring is a supremely major detractor for this appliance. Your manual may be different from mine but the one that came with my Raritan PH Superflush will not even touch the subject of lubricating the piston ring as it's such a problem.

And yet ALL manual head pumps must be lubed on a regular basis, even my old Jabsco which served me well, but just liked to leak.

Using the small grease pump for lubricating the piston ring is now so simple my mind had almost completely purged itself of the trauma of that early attempt to lubricate from the bottom .

 

[Richard19068]

Thanks for the details Ralph! Very helpful.
As you mentioned, the manual doesn't specifically address lubing the piston o-ring even though we know it should be done. It seems they could have come up with an easier way. Doing it from the bottom is certainly going to delay service intervals.

 

[capta]

I was fortunate to begin my boating career when Wilcox/Crittenden was the standard in marine toilets. Nobody has ever sold a better toilet than their "Skipper", IMO. Mostly silicon bronze with very little maintenance and you could cut the pieces that wear out from a bit of hide. Every once in a while I still see one for sale.
On the other hand, I despise the plastic marine toilets with a passion. They just do not hold up to full time daily use by a couple of people.

 

[jssailem]

As I have aged, I find seating perched over that tiny round bowl feels unfriendly.

I wonder if Raritan makes a seat that fits a larger butt more like my home unit.

 

[Ward H]

@jssailem Here you go. Household size seat with slow close.
We have one on our Raritan Sea Era QC electric fresh water flush head. I really appreciate the slow close feature.

 

[Tally Ho]

@jssailem Here you go. Household size seat with slow close.
We have one on our Raritan Sea Era QC electric fresh water flush head. I really appreciate the slow close feature.

Or buy the whole “household” sized toilet..

Raritan PH SuperFlush Manual Marine Toilet - Household - P102

The Raritan PH SuperFlush Manual Marine Toilet is a non-macerating manual toilet that combines the efficient flushing action of Raritan's PHII model with a sleek "universal" base for easier upgrades. Features: Non-macerating manual toilet combines

defender.com

Greg

 

[Peggie Hall HeadMistress]

I don't think the "household" seat will fit the smaller bowl. But you shouldn't have to replace the entire toilet to get just the larger bowl...do a bit of research among retailers to see who has them. Doesn't have to be a Raritan bowl...any bowl that mounts using the 4 bolt pattern will fit...just be sure it's the "household" bowl. Toilet seats from Home Depot or Lowes will fit any marine household bowl.

--Peggie